Musical instrument



March 3, 1931.

c. F. MQCLEARY v MUSICAL INSTRUMENT Filed May 1'7, 1950 3 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTOR W" BY 55 ATTORNEY I WITNESS:

March 3, 1931. c MCCLEARY 1,795,259

MUSICAL INSTRUMENT Filed May 17, 1930 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 March 3, 1931.

C. F. MQJCLEARY MUSICAL INSTRUMENT Filed May 17, 1930 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 INVENTOR ATTORNEY WITNESS:

Patented Mar. 3, 1931 i I I UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE CLARENCE F. MCCLEARY, OF PRESCOTT, ARIZONA MUSICAL INSTRUMENT Application filed May 17, 1930.. Serial No. 453,298.

This invention relates to a musical instruin thickness and in width so that these arms ment which I call Rondolin, the general are spaced from the end members 2 and 3 as object of the invention being to provide a shown in Figure 1. Rings 8 are connected rotary shaft, with means for rotating the with the rim and the outer peripheries of same in one direction by the foot of the user the members 2 and 3, as shown in Figure 1. 5.

and in another direction by a spring, with Each member 2 and 3 is formed with centwo circular members on the shaft carrying tral opening 9, of much greater diameter bridge pieces which support a plurality of than the shaft and the member 3 has its openstrings connected with the shaft and the ing of smaller diameter than the opening in 10 bridge pieces so that the strings can be played the member 2. A ring shaped bridge 10 .is fas upon by one or more bows between the cirtoned to each member 2 and has its inner cular members and the shaft rotated to bring periphery flush with the wall of the opening the desired strings to the playing position. in said member 2. The members A and B This invention also consists in certain are so placed on the shaft that the end memother features of construction and in the com hers 2 face each other, as shown in Figure 1.

bination and arrangement of the several Each bridge piece carries a plurality of parts, to be hereinafter fully described, ilsmall eye bolts 11 which are radially arrang d lustrated in the accompanying drawings and in the bridge piece, with the eyes innermost specifically pointed out in the appended and with the nuts 12 on the bolts outermost. claims. A plurality of wires or strings 13 pass in In describing the invention in detail, refth h the eyes of the bolts on (no bridge erence will be had to the accompanying drawpiece of member B and have their lower ends ings wherein like characters denote like or anchored to the shaft an appreciable distance corresponding parts throl'ighout the several below the member B by the pins 14. Said views, and in which 2 wires pass through the opening in the mem- 75 Figure 1 is an elevation of the device, with ber A and have their upper ends fastened to parts in section. the tuning pins 15 which are rotatably sup- Figure 2 is a section on line 22 of Figported by the shaft adjacent the upper end ure 1. thereof. A plurality of wires or strings 16 Figure 3 is a section on line 33 of Figpass through the eyes of the bolts of the ure 1. bridge piece of member A and have their up- Figure at is a section on line 4 of Figper ends anchored to the upper part of the ure 1. shaft, as shown at 17, these wires or strings Figure 5 is a section on line 55 of Figpassing through the opening of member I ure 1: with their lower ends fastened to the timing Figure 6 is a section on line 6-6 of F i gpins 18 in the lower end of the shaft. ure 1 As shown in Figures 2 and 3, I prefer to Figure 7 a detail view showing the foot use twenty-two of the strings or wires 13 and .40 on the roar supporting member. fifteen of the strings or wires 16 and as shown In those views, the numeral 1. indicates a 1n these figures, the vires 13 are arranged shaft which carries the members A and B. equal distances apart. while the wires 16 are These members are of circular shape and arranged in groups of two and three. Thus each member comprises the end parts 2 and the device is chromatically strung likeapiano, 4r 3, the rim 5 and the radial supports C which with the twenty-two strings 13 completing it connect the rim with the shaft. Each P- three octaves. For example, the first string 1 port C consists of a piece 6 having its inner is C, one octave below middle G on the piano. end fastened in a slot in the shaft and the the next C above is the eighth string and arms 7 connected with the outer end of ea h the next C above is the fifteenth and the next piece 6, with their outer ends connected with C above i th t t d t i A the rim. Each arm 7 tapers-outwardly both shown in Figure 3, the strings on the upper hole in the lower end of the shaft.

member A are arranged in groups of two and three the same as the black keys on a piano. The strings are spaced apart sufiiciently for any single string to be played without con fiicting an adjacent string,'with the strings of one member passing midway between a pair of strings of the other member. Ip'refer to form the shaft and the parts of the members A and B of hard wood, each member 2 being preferably of spruce. The members 2 and 3 taper in thickness from their inner edges to has its ends passing through slots in the posts 21 and 23 and cleats 26 thereon engaging the post, with pins 27 passing through holes in the ends of the brace and engaging the posts for holding the parts in assembled posi tion. A lever 28 is pivoted at its upper end to the brace 25, as shown at 29, and a stop pin 30 on said brace limits the forward movement of the lever. A stationary arm 31 is fastened to the lower part of the braceand a spring 32 has one end connectedwith the outer end of the arm 31 and its other end is connected to the bottom of a groove 33 formed in the lower end of the shaft. A cable 34 is fastened in the bottom of groove 35 in the shaft arranged above the groove 33 and the other end of the able is connected to the lever,as shown at 36. This lever has a footpiece 37'at its lower end which is provided with a heel piece 38 so that the operator can place his foot on the foot pi cce with his heel in the space formed by the piece 38 to permit movement of the lover. The spring and cable are oppositely wound in the grooves of the shaft, with the cable on one side of the brace and the spring on the opposite side, as shown in Figure 5.

The operator sits in front of the device with his foot on the foot piece of the lever 28 and by pressing rearwardly the lever, the cable, unwinding from the shaft, will rotate the same in one direction and in this movement. the spring is wound. on the shaft so that when presure is released from the lever, the spring will turn the shaft in the oppo site direction. Thus the operatorcan place v the strings in any desired position by moving the lever with his foot. Thus portions of the strings between the members A and B are played upon with one or two bows. The parts are so arranged that the full backward movement of the lever will result in a complete revolution of the shaft. The strings are adjusted by slackening and tightening the nuts on the eye bolts and by removing the pins 27, the frame can be knocked down and the parts placed in case or the like. The first and second octaves or lower octaves are strung with wound strings. The parts of the strings that vibrate or produce the tone are those parts which are located between the circular bridges and the tuning pins. The third or.

to vibrate and all the carriers or eye bolts are of equal distance from the rim 5, thus giving each string its due quota of sound board from which to draw its tone. The tone productions are equally good at any point between the two members A and B. The strings can be plucked with the fingers of one hand while using a bow with the other hand.

Plates of black and white, not shown, may be placed on the shaft under the strings to represent keys like those of a piano so that the player can readily find the proper strings.

The tension on the strings on the circular 7 bridge pieces is from the outside toward the center, which adds much to the strength of resistance and as the strings extend entirely around the bridge piece, the tension or draft of strings is balanced.

The member 23 is provided with a foot part 23 which contacts the floor at two points so that the device supported at three points,

one in front and two at the rear. The lower end of the member 23 has a tapered lower end which its in a tapered opening in the member 23 so that the foot part can be read ily removed when the device is knocked down. i

It is'thought from the foregoing descrip tion that the advantages and novel features of the invention will be readily apparent.

It is to be understood that changes may be made in the construction and in the combination and arrangement of the several )ktltS provided that such chan es fall, with in the scope of the appended claims.

That I claim is 1. A musical instrument of the class described'comprising a shaft, means for rotatably supporting the shaft, a pair of bodies connected with the shaft, with circular spaces between the bodies and the shaft, a bridge piece carried by each body, strings having their ends connected with the shaft and passing through the circular spaces, a circular bridge piece carried by each body and string supporting means carried by the bridge pieces, some of the stringsvbeing supported by the bridge piece of one body and the remaining strings being supported by the other bridge piece.

:2. A musical instrument comprising a shaft supported for rotary movement, a pair of circular bodies supported in spaced relation from the shaft with spaces between the bodies and the shaft, a circular bridge piece carried by each body, eye members carried by each bridge piece, strings passing through the eye members of one of the bridge pieces, strings passing through the eye members of the other bridge piece, said strings passing through the spaces between the bodies and the shaft, means for fastening one end of each string to the shaft and a rotary member connecting the other end of each string to the shaft.

A musical instrument comprising a shaft supported for rotary movement, a pair of circular bodies supported in spaced relation from the shaft with spaces between the bodies and the shaft, a circular bridge piece carried by each body, eye members carried by each bridge piece, strings passing through the eye members of one of the bridge pieces, strings passing through the eye members of the other bridge piece, said strings passing through the spaces between the bodies and the shaft, means for fastening one end of each string to the shaft, a rotary member connecting the other end of each string to the shaft and means for adjusting the eye members.

4:. A musical instrument comprising a shaft supported for rotary movement, a pair of circular bodies supported in spaced relation from the shaft with spaces between the bodies and the shaft, a circular bridge piece carried by each body, eye members carried by each bridge piece, strings passin through the eye members of one of the bridge pieces, strings passing through the eye members of the other bridge piece, said strings passing through the spaces between the bodies and the shaft, means for fastening one end of each string to the shaft, a rotary member connecting the other end of each string to the shaft and foot operated means for rotating the shaft.

5. A musical instrument comprising a shaft supported for rotary movement, a pair of circular bodies supported in spaced relation from the shaft With spaces between the bodies and the shaft, a circular bridge piece carried by each body, eye members carried by each bridge piece, strings passing through the eye members of one of the bridge pieces, strings passing through the eye members of the other bridge piece, said strings passing through the spaces between the bodies and the shaft, means for fastening one end of each string to the shaft, a rotary member connecting the other end of each string to the shaft and foot operated means for rotating the shaft, such means comprising a spring having a part wound in one direction on the shaft and a string having a part wound in an opposite direction on the shaft and a foot lever connected with the string.

6. A musical instrument of the class described comprising a shaft, a number of bodies supported therefrom, each body consisting of upper and lower end pieces, a rim connecting the outer edges of the pieces together, a number of radial members connected with the shaft, arms connecting the radial members with the rim, each end piece having an opening therein of larger diameter than the shaft, a ring shaped bridge piece on one end piece of each member, strings connected with the shaft and passing through the spaces between the shaft and the bodies, means for attaching the strings to the bridge pieces and means for supporting the shaft.

7. A musical instrument comprisin a shaft, a collapsible frame supporting the s iaft in a diagonal position, means whereby the shaft can be rotated in the frame, a pair of circular bodies supported from the shaft, each body haying a circular space between itself and the shaft, circular bridge pieces carried by the bodies, with their inner edges flush with the outer walls of the spaces, adjustable eye bolts in each bridge piece, strings passing through the eye bolts of one bridge piece, strings passing through the eye bolts of the other bridge piece, pins for fastening the strings which pass through the eye bolts of the lower body to the lower part of the shaft, rotary pins in the upper end of the shaft to which said strings are connected, pins connecting the strings which pass through the eye bolts of the upper body to the upper part of the shaft and rotary pins in the lower part of the shaft to which said last mentioned strings are connected.

In testimony whereof I afiix my signature.

CLARENCE F. MCCLEARY. 

